Humility and gratitude? Not Romney's strong suit

A good example of humility and gratitude is demonstrated by the actors and actresses who receive Academy Awards. These celebrities go out of their way to thank all those who made their success possible. The opposite of humility is boastfulness and the opposite of gratitude is arrogance. A good example of boastfulness and arrogance was provided to the recent Republican convention, by the continuous chant of “We built it!”

I would like to look a little deeper into the claim, “we built it,” to demonstrate that this is not accurate. Let’s use Mitt Romney as a starting point. If it is true that Mitt recently gained $24 million in one year, then his income was $100,000 per day for 48 weeks (allowing for a month’s vacation). This comes to about $50,000 before lunch and $50,000 in the afternoon. Let me be clear, I applaud success, but nobody “earns” $100,000 per day by work alone. Nobody! You may “acquire, gain, or accumulate” this amount, but it is only possible because of a well-ordered social and economic system that is being upheld by the citizenry. Mitt’s success would not have been possible if any of the following well-ordered and regulated pillars of our economy were removed: mass communication, electrical grid and energy, educated work force, transportation, banking, financing, and monetary system, law and order, water, sanitation, public works, peace, and others.

I do not envy or resent someone acquiring $100,000 per day but I find it unreasonable to think that our system makes it possible for some people to acquire wealth at this rate, while others who are the working backbone of society can no longer afford health care, the cost of a home, college education, and other good things.

Romney says he won’t “apologize” for his success as a businessman. But he and his wife — who stated in her speech at the Republican convention that her husband “…was not handed success. He built it” — conveniently neglect to tell the American people the truth.

The fact is that Romney’s success at Bain Capital was made possible by a federal bailout that saved Bain & Company from bankruptcy when he was its managing director. Yes, Romney’s private equity firm was bailed out by the taxpayers of this country when he was still in charge of it.

Romney, of course, won’t admit that. He also won’t admit that he used a perverse form of leverage to obtain the bailout by threatening to loot the firm by paying its executives fat bonuses with the cash in Bain that was available and should have been used to pay off its creditors. This threat left the government with no other choice but to provide the bailout because it would have otherwise left Bain with less assets for the government to recoup if it went bankrupt.

You have never heard Mitt Romney acknowledge that fact or thank the American taxpayers for the bailout that saved not only his company but also his business reputation and his then-future chances of ever running for a political office as a “successful, self-made businessman.” But then why should we expect him to show his thanks and gratitude where it is due and be honest about it when that wouldn’t fit his “built-it-all-myself” fairy tale.

So let the financiers, movie stars, athletes, and monetary moguls make all they can, but in gratitude and humility let them sufficiently pay back all those who make their wealth possible. I realize that Mitt’s example is extreme, but every business, large and small, depends on a strong and orderly infrastructure and society in order to succeed. The president was right — we do not build wealth in a vacuum.

Elwood is a resident of Kalispell.